Chapter Summaries

Third Company Captain Chambers used Nephilim sonic technology and the local freight supervisor to take control of the world’s coolant trade, then led a coordinated assault to seize the settlements and advance to Mentor of Chaos. After ordering his company to rebuild order, he left for World 11-11-58 to assist the Fifth Company Captain.

• Chambers investigated the locals harvesting coolant-producing tree sap and secretly entered their settlement to confront the freight supervisor.
• Chambers threatened the freight supervisor into cooperating with him and taking control of the coolant supply and interstellar transport chain.
• One standard month later, Chambers and the Third Company’s Shadows of Order launched a coordinated attack, seizing factories, warehouses, and berths across several settlements.
• Chambers broke into the settlement leader’s office, killed the leader, drank the Black Emperor’s potion, and advanced to Mentor of Chaos.
• Chambers ordered his company to control the situation and rebuild order, then departed for World 11-11-58 to assist the Fifth Company Captain.

Per led the 11th Chapter’s assault on world 11-11-69, using covert agents and coordinated strikes to seize control of the planet. After killing its military ruler and advancing to Mentor of Disorder, he sent the Honor Guard captain to continue the campaign on 11-11-70.

• Per reviewed the 11th Chapter’s conquests and ordered the attack on 11-11-69 to begin at eleven.
• Per coordinated with Dementyeva, who used her influence to keep Michael Diallo asleep while the Honor Guard launched strikes across the world.
• Dementyeva subdued Michael’s adjutant and guards with spider silk, then reported that Michael would remain asleep for five hours.
• Per and a Witch fought through the palace, and Per killed the crowned military ruler and two others with transformed steel wires.
• The Honor Guard captain reported that the defense army’s barracks had been seized, and Per drank a potion to advance to Mentor of Disorder.
• Per ordered the Honor Guard captain to begin the next operation on 11-11-70.

Luther led House Bonanot’s knights in an assault on House Falk’s fortress on Amad, relying on the Shadow of Order’s Iron Behemoths to overcome the defenders’ Lascannons. After the fortress was breached and the pasture secured, Luther defeated the Falk Knight King and drank a potion given by the Black Emperor.

• Luther reassured Bonanot that Iron Behemoths would help defeat House Falk, then confirmed that Bukayo Arshavin’s Third Legion would arrive on time.
• Luther mounted a war elephant and led Bonanot’s red-and-white knights toward Falk Castle, where Lascannons devastated their ranks from thirty-four kilometers away.
• Iron Behemoths emerged from concealment, shrugged off the Lascannon fire, and blasted openings in Falk Castle’s defenses.
• Luther charged into the battle and defeated the Falk Knight King as the Iron Behemoths crushed the enemy war elephants.
• Bukayo reported that his forces had occupied the Falk family’s pasture, and Luther drank the Black Emperor’s potion.

Nimrod ordered Luther to return to Caliban while Rosicky presented new power armor and Tartaros-pattern Terminator armor developed by the Martian Mechanicum. He assigned the new Terminator suits to Flamini’s 10th Battalion for combat testing and began planning how the Shadow of Order would equip its forces.

• Nimrod ordered Luther to return to Caliban and bring Merian and Nereus to heel, promising him a chance to fight later.
• Bukayo reported that Mastodon heavy tanks had performed well, and Rosicky said he would help Gabriel and Wojciech produce them for the Legion.
• Rosicky presented the new power armor, and Nimrod ordered its fifty-eight suits issued to the 5th Legion for testing in the battle on Heliosa.
• Rosicky introduced twenty-four new Tartaros-pattern Terminator suits, and Nimrod assigned their combat testing to Flamini’s 10th Battalion.
• Nimrod began planning equipment standards, with Mark IV armor for ordinary members, Terminator patterns for officers, tailored suits for senior leaders, and Mind Servitors for Librarians.

Nimrod sent the Sixth Legion’s Judang Lightning Fighters to fight the Aivene air force over Heliosa, while the Ninth Chapter was assigned to control low altitude. Despite Heliosa’s swarms of flying creatures and dangerous terrain, Flamini’s pilots turned the battle in their favor, with Calamity Priest’s attack destroying hundreds of enemy fighters.

• Arsena Dunn reported that the Legion had defeated the Aivene fleet and taken orbit around Heliosa, where the Aivene’s mountain eyries made an aerial assault necessary.
• Nimrod assigned the Sixth Legion to engage the Aivene at medium and high altitude and ordered Szczesny’s Ninth Chapter to support the low-altitude fight.
• Flamini launched five thousand two hundred Judang Lightning Fighters and opened the attack with Hellstrike Missiles, while the Aivene fighters climbed to meet them.
• Heliosa’s flying creatures swarmed into the battle, damaging some Lightning Fighters as Monster, Machine, and Lucky One fought them off.
• Calamity Priest warned his formation of an impending explosion, then triggered a Mental Storm around a mountain peak that engulfed enemy fighters and earned him more than four hundred and fifty kills.

The Ninth Chapter established landing zones on Heliosa’s Second and Third Continents after Jorginho’s supernatural song disrupted the Shrike Knights defending the cliffs. Nimrod then ordered four Legions to begin a coordinated campaign against the Aivene warriors.

• Szczesny approved Jorginho’s plan to land on the cliffside regions of Heliosa’s Second and Third Continents.
• Jorginho warned the forces to enter the Thelema Mindset, then used his chaotic song to disrupt the Shrike Knights and their mounts.
• Fifty Wind-Blessed killed the disoriented Shrike Knights, while the rest helped assault the coast and destroy its defenses.
• Arsena Dunn reported that the Ninth Chapter had established landing zones on both continents.
• Nimrod marked ninety raven nests and ordered the 8th and Second Legions to serve as the anvil while the 5th and 7th Legions struck as the hammer.

The 8th Legion’s First Company attacked the Fourth Raven Nest while Santiago Bergkamp led the 5th Legion in a teleporting strike through the mountainside passages. The attack broke the Aivene formation from behind, and Santiago confirmed that Mark IV Power Armor offered better protection than Mark II.

• Buuka led the First Company across the bridge, using his Dawnlight sword to repel Aivene warriors and Shrikes.
• Santiago examined the mountain with his crystal ball, then teleported with a hundred Honor Guard to seize its transport hub.
• Santiago divided his forces among the passages and led a squad toward a silver tower, where the Shadow of Order ambushed the Aivene defenders.
• A Shrike pierced a wounded Trickster’s Mark IV armor but was shocked off, and Santiago killed it with his Archaeotech Pistol.
• Santiago and the Honor Guard attacked the silver tower from behind, cutting down the Aivene and opening the passage for Buuka’s First Company.

Wilshire and the Overseer led Smart Machines against the Aivene, while Polti’s company launched a surprise assault on the mountain towers. The fighting continued as Shrike Knights attacked Polti amid his flames.

• Wilshire deployed the Overseer and thirty Smart Machines under the Gabriel Attack Protocol, and they advanced against the Aivene without firing on the Shadow of Order.
• The Overseer and Smart Machines attacked the Aivene with thermal beams, concussion weapons, and bullets as Wilshire confirmed the protocol worked to Gabriel.
• Over a hundred Shrike Knights descended and destroyed a Smart Machine by shooting its control chip, so Wilshire used holy light to melt four of them.
• Polti led the 7th Company in a surprise attack, and the Catachan Wolves and Pyromancers struck the Aivene and their silver towers with flames.
• Polti’s Fire Ravens and Fire Snakes attacked the Shrike Knights, but an icy hurricane suddenly rose inside the flames and chilled his Catachan Wolf.

Wilshire and Polti’s forces battled a Shrike Ghost until Oliver captured it and the Fourth Legion expanded its army of the dead. In orbit, Nimrod approved mass production of Smart Machines and Overseers, then ordered the First Chapter to drop onto the first continent.

• Wilshire and Polti killed over a hundred shrikes, creating a Shrike Ghost, and Wilshire offered it to the Fourth Legion as a sacrifice to the Black Emperor.
• The Shrike Ghost attacked the Aivene in a silver tower, killing many before Oliver and the Lion Ghost engaged it.
• Oliver opened his Bronze Gate and used his undead to drag the Shrike Ghost into his Underworld.
• The Fourth Legion’s Necromancer raised the Aivene dead, and the legion took over the Second Legion’s and 7th Legion’s battle lines.
• Gabriel reported that the Smart Machines and Overseers had passed their tests, and Nimrod ordered their large-scale manufacture.
• After Arsena Dunn reported progress on the second and third continents, Nimrod ordered the First Chapter to make an orbital drop onto the first continent.

The First Chapter’s First Company assaulted Raven Nest 91, with Dickson and the Judges capturing Snow-Domain Shrikes and killing the Aivene commander. Nimrod inspected the haul, recognized that Judges had made mass capture of potion materials possible, and ordered the 10th Battalion to break through Raven Nest 92.

• Dickson warned the Stormbird and Thunderhawk formations that they faced the powerful Snow-Domain Shrikes as aerial combat raged around them.
• Dickson led the Punisher Knights out of the Stormbird, and they grounded and restrained five attacking shrikes before charging the Aivene forces.
• The Punisher Knights killed the commanding Aivene officer, used Whip-Lash against nearby warriors, and stopped more than a hundred Snow-Domain Shrikes from returning to the bridge.
• Nimrod inspected the captured shrikes and concluded that Judges had dramatically improved the intact capture of potion-material creatures.
• Nimrod ordered Ramsey to lead the 10th Battalion against Raven Nest 92, the next obstacle on the way to Phoenix Cliff.

Sasebo Tezuka and Ramsey led the newly equipped Rose Bishops to attack Raven Nest No. 92. The Rose Bishops used Tartaros-pattern Terminator armor reinforced with flesh magic to withstand the Snow-Domain Shrikes and overwhelm the Aivene defenders.

• Sasebo Tezuka observed that four of Ramsey’s Honor Guard wore Tartaros-pattern Terminator armor, a new addition to the 10th Battalion.
• Ramsey’s force landed near Raven Nest No. 92, where Snow-Domain Shrikes attacked and his biokinesis Psyker killed their riders and snipers.
• The Rose Bishops shaped the falling flesh into protective Flesh Cloaks as Ramsey opened the Bronze Gate and released the undead.
• The Feathered Serpent Wraith’s scream stunned the Aivene Warriors, allowing the Hermits to strike from the shadows and pin them with shadow spears.
• The Rose Bishops charged into the canyon, firing on the Aivene and using flesh to trap the Snow-Domain Shrikes’ beaks against their armor.
• Ramsey killed the crowned Aivene commander and concluded that Tartaros-pattern Terminator armor suited the Rose Bishops because flesh magic strengthened its defenses without burdening them with heavier armor.

Nimrod led the Honor Guard against Raven Nest 93 and single-handedly destroyed the Aivene stronghold with his powers. The Honor Guard evacuated the gorge as the towers collapsed, leaving Nimrod victorious above the ruins.

• Nimrod ambushed the Aivene riders and destroyed their attack with the Guardian and a storm of Dawn Light.
• Nimrod sent Soul-Eater Bees into Raven Nest 93, where they attacked the Aivene and emerged from their victims’ minds.
• Nimrod used his Entropy ability field to decay the Aivene bullets before they could reach him.
• Nimrod tore down the Silver Towers between the mountains, crushing hundreds of Aivene beneath the falling stone.
• Nimrod amplified a shockwave between the towers, collapsing Raven Nest 93 and burying its defenders in landslides.
• Jurjur led the Honor Guard out of the gorge, and they watched Nimrod hovering above the destroyed nest.

William Wood led an assault on the Aivene city of Phoenix Cliff, using a Psychic Mist and the Farseer Puppet’s powers to break through its defenses. He reached the Great Library intact and believed he had fulfilled the Black Emperor’s oracle by preserving it.

• William arrived near Phoenix Cliff as the Black Emperor’s forces drew the defenders into battle.
• The Farseer Puppet covered the city with Psychic Mist, and William ordered the attack.
• The Shadows of Order and the “Clowns” and “Magicians” destroyed the fortress defenses and overwhelmed Aivene forces in the mist.
• William advanced toward the Great Library while the Farseer Puppet deflected the Aivene barrage and destroyed their shield wall with her Singing Spear and a psychic storm.
• The mist cleared to reveal the intact Great Library of Phoenix Cliff, which reminded William of Prospero.

Nimrod assigned the Shadow of Order’s Terminator armor patterns to its Chapters according to their bodies and fighting styles, while ordering Rosicky Cech to complete the new Power Armor refit within fifteen years. As the lords arrived at Heliosa, they sensed Nimrod’s preparations for an approaching war.

• Nimrod ordered Rosicky Cech to replace the Mark II and Mark III Power Armor across the Legion within fifteen years.
• Nimrod assigned Saturnine Terminator armor primarily to the First Chapter, Second Legion, 8th Legion, and 11th Chapter, and Cataphractii armor to the Fourth Legion and Chaplains.
• Nimrod assigned Tartaros-pattern armor to the Third Legion, 5th Legion, Sixth Legion, 7th Legion, Ninth Chapter, 10th Battalion, and 12th Chapter, accounting for their physical traits and combat styles.
• Nimrod arranged for Librarians, Tech Sergeants, Apothecaries, and higher-ranking members to receive armor tailored to their abilities and duties.
• Per and the other eleven lords arrived at Heliosa, while Winner Flamini and William sensed that a storm of war was brewing.

Nimrod investigated a strange bird statue in the Great Library of Phoenix Cliff and discovered that its shadowy wing was another Relic Fragment of Be'lakor. After taking the fragment and receiving spell notes, he assigned Arsena and Thomas tasks connected to his advancement rituals.

• Arsena Dunn reported that the Great Library had a peculiar statue and that forty-nine of the three hundred Apprentices had become generalists.
• Nimrod traveled with Arsena to the Great Library, where Thomas led him to the statue on the thirteenth level.
• A daemon tried to tempt Thomas into keeping the statue’s wing, but Thomas rejected it and called the voice a daemon.
• Nimrod recognized the shadowy bat wing as Be'lakor's right wing and tore it from the statue, making the fragment vanish.
• Thomas gave Nimrod the spell notes he needed, and Nimrod instructed him to study and record the Ark Fringe Cluster for the Astrologer ritual.

Nimrod ordered Arsena Dunn to conceal the Ark Fringe Cluster’s casualties and existence from the War Council, then granted him a Sequence 5 Mystic Mentor potion. Arsena drank it before the fifty Scholars he had taught and discovered that teaching helped him control his new power, gaining eleven mystic arts.

• Arsena Dunn reported that the Legion had suffered 10,470 casualties during the conquest of the Ark Fringe Cluster, including 380 from the 11th Chapter.
• Nimrod ordered Arsena to hide the casualties and the Ark Fringe Cluster from the War Council.
• Nimrod gave Arsena a Mystic Mentor potion and instructed him to drink it in front of the fifty generalists he had taught.
• Arsena gathered the fifty Scholars in the Lecture Hall and drank the potion before them.
• Arsena reviewed mystic arts aloud, using his lesson to bring the knowledge flooding his mind into order.
• Arsena realized he had gained control of his new power and eleven mystic arts.

Nimrod observed how Lorgar’s rising achievements and Kelbor-Hal’s appointment as Fabricator-General changed the War Council. The Emperor opened the meeting by announcing that Malcador had proposed an idea.

• Malcador praised Lorgar, whose record had risen to sixth place among the primarchs, while Perturabo resented his own slide to thirteenth.
• Nimrod reflected that Lorgar’s post-Pilgrimage conquests had accelerated, though the Word Bearers had ravaged their newly compliant worlds and spread Chaos worship.
• Kelbor-Hal arrived alone as the new Fabricator-General, and Nimrod recognized him as an ambitious, politically skilled Tech-priest who would later rebel against the Emperor.
• The Emperor entered with Constantin Valdor, acknowledged Lorgar’s improvement, and noted that Angron’s seat was empty.
• The Emperor told the assembled council that Malcador had proposed an idea.

The Emperor ordered Remembrancers assigned to every Expedition Fleet despite opposition from several primarchs, then tasked Nimrod with purging the Bone-Drinkers disrupting Solar Segmentum supply routes. Nimrod accepted the mission and considered using his Legion’s infiltration and biological-warfare skills against the xenos.

• The Emperor proposed placing Remembrancers with every Expedition Fleet, and several primarchs objected while Guilliman supported recording history.
• Nimrod opposed the proposal but considered turning the Remembrancers into propaganda tools after The Emperor ordered the primarchs to cooperate with them.
• Kelbor-Hal reported that the Bone-Drinkers had sharply reduced transport and ammunition supplies in the Solar Segmentum.
• The Emperor ordered Nimrod to purge the Bone-Drinkers after Russ and Curze made insufficient progress.
• Nimrod accepted the assignment and planned to use infiltration and a targeted biological weapon to exterminate the xenos.

Nimrod ordered his followers to hunt the Bone-Drinker, then had Kion report on Lemuel Gaumon and his dying wife, Marika. Learning that Lemuel had turned to forbidden powers to save her, Nimrod weighed whether Marika should live or die to secure Lemuel’s future loyalty to him.

• Nimrod ordered Mikel, Ramsey, and William to hunt the Bone-Drinker with help from the Assassin and Treasure Hunter Squad.
• Nimrod summoned Kion and asked for a report on Lemuel Gaumon, learning that Lemuel was a natural-born Psyker with the rare talent of reading auras.
• Kion explained that Lemuel had married Marika, daughter of the lord of the Sanga region, and that Barton had sent a descendant to their wedding at Nimrod’s prompting.
• Kion reported that Marika’s aggressive brain tumor had resisted treatment, and that Lemuel had begun trying everything from alternative medicine to forbidden eldritch powers to save her.
• Nimrod considered whether to use Marika’s soul or keep her alive to bind Lemuel, and pondered which choice would best secure the Inquisition’s future founder.

The Ark-Haris spread through the Keth’s crew and infect Andrews Prime’s starport workers, turning them into hosts for the Bone-Drinkers. Ramsey arrived in the Shadow-pattern Stormbird and used his shadow abilities and Shepherd to capture and consume many of the spores, while others fled.

• Captain Brian and the Keth’s spore-covered crew docked at Andrews Prime and embraced the starport workers, spreading Ark-Haris spores.
• The Bone-Drinkers devoured a loader’s face and bones, then infected workers throughout the starport, forming a surging tide of spores.
• A black bird-shaped transport landed the next day, but its cockpit was empty as the spores gathered to attack it.
• Ramsey emerged with Shepherd and used shadows and bioelectric currents to trap and compress the Ark-Haris, while the remaining Bone-Drinkers fled.
• Ramsey taunted the Bone-Drinkers and walked toward the Shadow-pattern Stormbird, whose cabin contained no spores.